Lid with compartment

ABSTRACT

A lid with a compartment for housing a breath mint, pill, toothpick, or similar item. The lid may comprise a standard lid of various sizes and configurations as is known in the art, such as for a cup for coffee, tea, soda, or other food item, solid or liquid. The compartment or indentation may be open or closed, such as with a flap. If open, the indentation may be sized to securely hold a mint or other item until removed by the user. If a flap or similar cover is used, it may have a ridge, tab, protrusion or corner that the user can use to lift the flap or cover and expose the mint or other item. The indentation or compartment may be square, circular, oval, triangular, or other polygonal form. The flap or cover may be perforated for tearing off.

This application claims benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/260,536, filed Nov. 12, 2009, by William Christopher Lotterhos, and is entitled to that filing date for priority. The specification, figures and complete disclosure of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/260,536 are incorporated herein by specific reference for all purposes.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The invention disclosed herein relates to container lids. More particularly, it relates to a beverage or similar lid with a compartment.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

In various embodiments, the present invention comprises a lid with a compartment for housing a breath mint, pill, toothpick, or similar item. The lid may comprise a standard lid of various sizes and configurations as is known in the art, such as for a cup for coffee, tea, soda, or other food item, solid or liquid. The compartment or indentation may be open or closed, such as with a flap. If open, the indentation may be sized to securely hold a mint or other item until removed by the user. If a flap or similar cover is used, it may have a ridge, tab, protrusion or corner that the user can use to lift the flap or cover and expose the mint or other item. The indentation or compartment may be square, circular, oval, triangular, or other polygonal form. The flap or cover may be perforated for tearing off.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a top and side view of a lid in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

In one exemplary embodiment, the present invention comprises a lid 10 with a compartment or indentation 20 for housing a breath mint, or similar item. The lid may comprise a standard lid, such as a beverage lid, of various sizes and configurations (e.g., circular, or other shape) as is known in the art. The compartment or indentation may be open or closed, such as with a flap or cover 22, as seen in FIG. 1. If open, the indentation may be sized to securely hold a mint, toothpick, pill or other item until removed by the user. The item may be held in place by tightly fitting within the indentation, or be held in place by protrusions within the indentation. The user may remove the item by pressure on the underside of the lid, or by pulling the item out of the indentation.

If a flap or similar cover is used, it may have a ridge, tab, protrusion or corner that the user can use to lift the flap or cover and expose the mint or other item. The indentation or compartment may be square, circular, oval, triangular, another polygonal form, or irregular in shape. The flap or cover may be perforated for tearing off.

When used on a beverage or food container, such as a cup for coffee, tea, soda, or other food item, solid or liquid, the lid allows the user to have a breath mint or similar item after every coffee, drink or meal. The lid also may be used to hold a pill or other medicine, and may be used in conjunction with the beverage or food item in the container.

Thus, it should be understood that the embodiments and examples have been chosen and described in order to best illustrate the principles of the invention and its practical applications to thereby enable one of ordinary skill in the art to best utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited for particular uses contemplated. Even though specific embodiments of this invention have been described, they are not to be taken as exhaustive. There are several variations that will be apparent to those skilled in the art. 

1. A container lid, comprising: a lid adapted to fit on a container; and an indentation or compartment in the lid, adapted to hold a small item.
 2. The lid of claim 1, wherein the small item is a breath mint.
 3. The lid of claim 1, wherein the small item is a toothpick.
 4. The lid of claim 1, wherein the small item is a pill.
 5. The lid of claim 1, wherein the container is a beverage container.
 6. The lid of claim 1, wherein the container is a food container.
 7. The lid of claim 1, wherein the lid is circular.
 8. The lid of claim 1, wherein the indentation or compartment is covered by a flap or cover.
 9. The lid of claim 8, wherein the flap is removably attached to the lid.
 10. The lid of claim 9, wherein the flap is perforated along its attachment to the lid.
 11. The lid of claim 1, wherein the indentation or compartment is not covered.
 12. The lid of claim 1, wherein the indentation or compartment is sized to hold the small item tightly in place by pressure. 